Surgeon and Army veteran Adam Hamawy may have never run for office before, but his campaign for New Jersey’s 12th congressional district is off to a strong financial start.
Hamawy, a Democrat who joined the race for retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing)’s seat last Thursday, said today that he raised more than $215,000 during his first four days in the race.
“We’re thrilled to see the outpouring of support from our community just days after our campaign launch – a clear reflection of the excitement behind Dr. Hamawy’s bold candidacy,” Hamawy’s campaign manager Hebah Kassem said in a statement. “We’re confident that our momentum will only continue to build as we connect with voters across the district.”
Hamawy’s fundraising total certainly makes him a candidate to watch in the intensely crowded race, though how it compares to most of his opponents remains unknown for now; the first fundraising reports since Watson Coleman announced her retirement will be due by January 30. (Hamawy won’t even be covered by that reporting deadline, since he entered the race after the most recent quarter ended.)
Only one other candidate, former Energy Department official Jay Vaingankar, has announced any of his own fundraising totals thus far; Vaingankar said he raised more than $126,000 during the first 24 hours of his campaign.
Hamawy is relatively new to the New Jersey political scene, but the South Brunswick physician has been in the national spotlight twice before: as one of the physicians who saved Tammy Duckworth’s life in Iraq in 2004, and as a leader of a group of doctors who were briefly trapped in Gaza while providing medical aid in 2024. Last year, Watson Coleman invited Hamawy to be her guest at President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress.
And soon after launching his 12th district campaign, Hamawy was endorsed by Duckworth, now a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
“When Dr. Hamawy first met me, he didn’t know me, he didn’t know my story,” Duckworth said in a statement last week. “I was just another wounded soldier in his operating room. He volunteered to serve in combat and worked around the clock to save my life, just as he has for many others. It is because of his sacrifice, that I’m not only alive – but I’ve been able to go on to serve my country and the people of Illinois in the United States Senate.”
“Working families in New Jersey and all across America are looking for leaders with the courage to speak truth to power, the willingness to call out injustices at home and abroad, and the determination to spend every day working to make their lives better,” she continued. “Dr. Hamawy is that leader, and I’m so proud to be his friend and endorse his campaign for Congress.”
